Amazon settles 1984 suit, sets limits on Kindle deletions

Amazon has settled a suit brought by a student angered that his notes vanished …

Amazon set off an online uproar when, in response to the discovery that it was vending unlicensed literary content, it summarily deleted copies of works by George Orwell from the Kindles of some users. Now, as part of the settlement from a lawsuit that ensued, the company has publicly clarified the policy that will govern any future deletions.

Amazon's initial decision to delete the works after purchase outraged many Kindle owners, but the company quickly admitted that the decision was a mistake and said that, under similar circumstances, it would not take the same action. But that left some people wondering if there were situations where content might still be deleted.

Others remained bothered by the fact that some of their own work vanished along with the Orwell text. One of the Kindle's highly touted features is the ability to attach notes directly to sections of the text; these did not survive the deletion. At least one user, Justin Gawronski, was annoyed enough to take action, filing a suit against the retailer after the notes he took as part of a school assignment vanished. More worrisome for Amazon, presumably, were his attempts to have the suit turned into a class action on behalf of all the other Orwell buyers.

Since that suit was filed, however, Amazon has offered affected users a new (presumably legal) copy of the lost works or a $30 gift certificate, good for three new books. That apparently took the wind out of the Gawronski's sails. The Seattle site TechFlash spotted that the suit has now been settled. In a series of stipulations, the parties agree that the new refund offer left Gawronski feeling he no longer had a case: "Plaintiffs believe they would not likely be able to certify classes under Rule 23(b)(3) because of Amazon’s offer to fully reimburse affected consumers for all Subject Works previously removed by Amazon from Devices and to restore notes and annotations."

But that's not the most interesting aspect of the settlement. In it, Amazon's attorneys agreed to legally binding terms that describe its content deletion policy. When it comes to blog and periodical content, as well as software, Amazon retains the right to perform a remote delete. But when it comes to books, deletions will only occur under a limited number of circumstances: failed credit card transactions, judicial orders, malware, or the permission of the user.

Amazon is also covering Gawronski's lawyer fees, but only with the understanding that the proceeds be given to charity, preferably one focused on literacy, education, or health.

Typically, legal settlements are sealed to prevent the terms from being made public, but you can understand why both parties were happy to let this one come to light, given that the primary result is a healthy donation to charity. And, presumably, Amazon wants the opportunity to explain its deletion policy in more detail.